


Elementalist Harry

by yrdfxz



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Elemental Magic, F/M, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yrdfxz/pseuds/yrdfxz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-shot: Harry's in the Triwizard Tournament and he's in big trouble. With no clue what he's doing and an irritating Slytherin hounding him at every turn, Harry needs to figure something out and fast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elementalist Harry

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally intended to be a full story, but I never did any work past this chapter you see here. It was very different from my other works at the time, as I chose to do this in the first person POV. I hope you enjoy!

I sat at the end of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, slowly picking away at a pitiful pile of food on my plate. Just last night, my name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. Now, everyone hated me. Again. Of course, this was worse than any of those other times, since my two best friends were currently at the other end of the table, throwing nasty glares at me every few minutes. I glanced around the hall, and everywhere I turned, I saw the same thing. Suspicion. Anger. Even from some of the professors. Dumbledore didn't seem any different, but Merlin knows he's not quite right in the head anyway.

Sighing, I shoved my plate away and stood up from the bench. I made my way out of the hall, trying to ignore the watchful eyes of at least half of the students in the castle. As I walked through the doors, I accidentally bumped into someone. Muttering a quick apology, I looked up into a pair of icy blue eyes and froze in place.

Daphne Greengrass narrowed her eyes at me and said, “Can you move, Potter? I'd like to eat some time today.”

I quickly stepped to the side and allowed her through. She marched through the doors, seemingly unconcerned with the attention of the students who had seen our collision. I watched her take a seat at the Slytherin table. She glanced up at me and frowned when she noticed me watching her. My face flushed and I spun around, making a hasty retreat towards the staircase.

As I made my way back to Gryffindor tower, I flung the door to my dormitory open and went to my trunk. I grabbed my cloak and map and left quickly, hoping to find some obscure part of the castle to hide in for the rest of the day. I wandered around the castle under my cloak for a while, with the map held close to my face. Most of the good spots were already taken. I noticed an owl fly past a window, and I checked the map. No one was in the Owlery. I decided to pay a visit to Hedwig.

I walked through the door to the Owlery and pulled the cloak off. A snowy owl noticed my presence, and gracefully flew down and landed on my shoulder. I gently stroked her feathers and softly said, “Hey, girl... It's nice to know I still have at least one friend around here.” I paused for a moment as I looked out a window onto the grounds. Hedwig stared at me and hooted softly. I quickly realized my mistake.

“Sorry, Hedwig. I guess I'm just a bit distracted right now."

Hedwig hooted again and bumped my head with her's.

I smiled. “I don't have any bacon! You should have come to see me this morning.”

She stared at me before leaping off my shoulder and landing on a perch nearby. I moved closer to the window and sat down, resting my back against the wall and pretending not to notice her following my every move. I glanced back at her and said, “I'm sorry. Maybe I'll find Dobby later and sneak some up to you tonight."

There was a loud crack, and Dobby stood next to me. I nearly tumbled out of the window in surprise.

“Dobby! What are you doing here?!”

“Dobby heard Harry Potter calling! Dobby has come to help Harry Potter!”

Still recovering from my near death experience, I mumbled, “Oh.... uhhhh... I was gonna ask you something...”

Hedwig hooted loudly.

“Oh, right! Bacon! D'you think you could grab some for Hedwig?”

Dobby nodded enthusiastically and vanished. I sighed loudly.

“See, Hedwig? You'll get your bacon.”

“Talking to your only friend, Potter?”

I shrugged, not bothering to check who had intruded on my solitude.

“No witty response? No clever insult? I'm wounded. And here I was thinking you could always be counted on for some laughable remark.”

I closed my eyes and contemplated leaping out of the window just to get away from this person.

Softly, I whispered, “Just please, leave me alone.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I used the magic word.”

A pause, and then, “Haha. That won't make me leave. Maybe I enjoy seeing you miserable.”

“Well, there's loads of other people who I'm sure would love to talk about the joys of me being miserable.”

Another pause. I heard footsteps approaching, and felt the person sit down beside me. I frowned and sneaked a look. Once more, I found myself staring into _her_ eyes.

“Look, Potter. As much fun as this is, I didn't actually come here to mock you. I didn't come to see you at all. But you're here, and I just want to say that I don't think you did it...” She let her voice slowly fade.

I hadn't moved at all as she spoke. She stared at me for a moment, expecting a response. My eyes widened for a moment, before I shook my head, trying to focus on what she'd said. “Yeah... Yeah, thanks, I guess.”

She seemingly picked up where her voice trailed off and said, “...You're not that smart. See you around, Potter.”

I watched her walk away from me for the second time that day.

There was another loud crack right beside me, and for the second time, I nearly tumbled down to my death.

“Dobby has bacon for Harry Potter's owl!”

I sighed again and put my head in my hands. “Thanks, Dobby.”

* * *

Potions. I hated this class with a fiery passion almost as intense as the passion with which Snape hated me. Clearly he thought I put my name in the Goblet. No other reason could explain why he would pair me with Draco Malfoy. Not only did I have to deal with the constant remarks about my lack of intelligence and skill from Snape, but I had to sit next to Malfoy, listening to him brag about how much better he is than me, and insult me every chance he got. Snape even gave him twenty points when he insulted my dad, under the guise of “helping another student learn history.”

Of course, it also didn't help that Daphne was sitting right in front of me. She was confusing. I'd never had any contact with her at all until a few days ago, and then we talk twice in a day. She treated me like slime, just like every other student in the castle, but at least she didn't think I was lying. So, I found myself staring at her periodically as the class crept onward, frowning as I pondered the enigma that was Daphne Greengrass.

It would have been too much to ask for Malfoy not to notice.

“Like what you see, Potter? Maybe if you're extra nice, I'll put in a good word for you, and she'll let you use her cauldron.”

Daphne turned around and watched Malfoy carefully for a moment, then at me. She smirked at the blush on my face, before turning back to her work.

I glared at her back.

“Hey, Potter, pay attention. I'm not doing this potion by myself. Merlin, you're almost as worthless as Longbottom!”

Snape paused next to Malfoy. “Do not worry, Mr. Malfoy. You will not be punished for Potter's incompetence."

I ran my hand through my hair, sighing. Yeah, I really hated potions.

* * *

_A few weeks later_

It seemed like I was seeing her everywhere. I wish I knew why. We hadn't talked since that day not long after Halloween. It was almost like she was stalking me. Kinda creepy.

The first task was coming up pretty soon, and most of my time was spent alone in the library, trying to find spells to keep me alive. It wasn't going well. Hagrid had... let slip that I'd have to get past a dragon. Unfortunately, dragons were feared for a reason. They're bloody hard to take down without a lot of help and precautions. How they expected me to survive was beyond my comprehension.

I sat at the table with a dozen books scattered around me. My head was buried in one of them. Literally. I'd fallen asleep not long ago. Someone brushed my shoulder and I woke with a start, carelessly wiping a bit of drool from the corner of my mouth.

“Charming.”

Blood rushed to my face, and I tried to cover my face with the book.

Daphne grabbed the book from my hands and casually tossed it on the table. “Not so fast, Potter.”

I studiously avoided looking at her as I asked, “Why are you here?”

She smirked. “Curiosity. I've seen you in here day after day looking through dozens of books. Have you actually accomplished anything?”

“Errrr, yeah, kinda.”

Daphne watched me for a moment. “So you're completely clueless, yes?”

I blushed again and looked down at the table. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I notice you seem to have taken an interest in dragons. Surprising thing to do, just before the first task. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you knew what you were up against.”

I didn't respond, and kept staring at the table.

She sat down. I felt increasingly uncomfortable as she continued to stare. “How very... _Slytherin_ of you, Potter.”

I held myself back from responding about how I very nearly _was_ a Slytherin. She frowned for a moment when I didn't respond. I asked, “So you never told me why you're here.”

She started to stare at me again.

I stared back. “What?”

She shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and reached for the book she grabbed from me. Her hand darted forward and removed the book from the table.

“I was reading that."

“No, you were drooling on it. There's a difference.”

“I'd appreciate if you gave it back. As you pointed out, the first task is coming up and I'd like to know what the hell I'm doing before I get roasted by a dragon.”

“Please. If you haven't figured it out by now, do you really expect to get anywhere?”

I glared at her. “Yes.”

She laughed. “Listen, Potter, if you want to survive, you're going to need help. Everyone knows you aren't the brightest student around, though you're probably the luckiest.”

“And I suppose you want to help?”

“Actually, yes.”

My mouth hung open slightly. Why would _she_ want to help _me_? I've never done anything for her, so she can't be repaying a favour... “What do you want?”

She seemed surprised for a moment. “What makes you think I want something?”

I just stared at her.

She smiled. “Perhaps you're smarter than I give you credit for. Yes, I want something. But I'm not saying what. I will say, however, that I have an interest in making sure you come out of this alive.”

I kept staring at her.

“Bullshit."

Her eyes widened, and a shocked expression appeared on her face. I smiled.

She rolled her eyes and got to her feet. “Fine then. If you're arrogant enough to think you can do it on your own, I won't waste my time.”

She started walking away, and I stared at her back, thinking furiously. Quickly deciding, I called out to her. “Hey, Daphne! Wait!”

She paused and turned around. “What?”

“I... errr... would appreciate any help you have to offer.”

She smirked at me and walked back over. “Excellent.” Reclaiming her chair, she sat silently, watching me. I felt like she did that a lot.

“What?”

“So you're facing a dragon?”

“Errr, yeah.”

“What's your plan?”

“Right now? To not die.”

Daphne sighed. “Really? That's all you've come up with?”

“Well, it's not like I'm good at this whole research thing.”

“One would think you'd be better, considering you just might actually die. Come on, Potter, we've got a lot of work to do.” She waved her wand and sent the books flying back to their shelves.

“Hey! I hadn't read all those yet!”

Daphne gave me a funny look. “You don't need to.”

* * *

I sat down on a heavy wooden chair in an unused classroom. Daphne sat across from me, watching me carefully. I frowned at her and shrugged. She blushed slightly, but didn't look away.

“About time you showed up, Potter. My free time isn't unlimited like you seem to think yours is.”

I tensed and said, “Yeah, sorry about that... I ...woke up late.”

“It's three in the afternoon.”

“I know...”

Daphne fell silent and went back to watching me. I shifted slightly in my seat, but refused to look away first. After a few minutes, she shifted forward in her chair slightly and quietly asked, “What really happened?”

Hastily, I said, “Nothing. Don't worry about it. I won't be late again.”

I swore that, just for a moment, she looked hurt when I didn't tell her. But it was gone so fast, I figured it must have been the light or something. Hesitantly, I asked, “So... what are we gonna do?”

My question seemed to snap her out of whatever mood she was feeling, and she sat up straight in a very business-like manner. “Simple. The eyes of a dragon are a weak point. Your job is to learn how to accurately hit a moving target. Then, during the task, you lure the dragon away from it's eggs, hit it in the eye to distract it, and rush over to grab the egg before it regains it's senses.”

I stared at her in disbelief. It was only the dangerous glint in her eyes that kept me from laughing about everything I saw wrong with that plan, including the high likelihood that it'd result in my death.

“Potter? Did you hear me?”

I nodded.

“Good. Any questions?”

I paused, before saying, “Errr, a few... What happens if the dragon isn't distracted?”

“This technique has been used by lone dragon handlers trying to distract a dragon long enough to escape. It's worked hundreds of times before.”

“Worked for how long?”

She smirked. “Oh, about five to ten seconds.”

I ran my hand through my hair, and missed Daphne smirk fade, to be replaced by a gentle smile. “So you expect me to lure this dragon away, distract it, and then run back to the nest, grab the egg, and make it out of the arena in five seconds?”

She looked at me as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I figure that she already thought I was pretty thick, so I asked, “How do I do that?”

“Haven't you figured it out yet?”

“No. I'm stupid, remember?”

Her face coloured slightly again, and she glared at me. “Your broom, Potter. Despite your lack of intelligence, you are a good flier.”

“But I'm only allowed my wand.”

Sighing irritably, she said slowly, “You are a _wizard_! You can learn a spell to summon things. It's on the curriculum for this year, for Merlin's sake!”

I winced. “Great... So I just need to practice summoning my broom, and then flying around and hitting other moving things with spells?”

She nodded tersely.

Deciding that I'd best go along with her plan or further risk an attack from a very irate witch, I smiled and said, “Let's get started!”

* * *

It was the day of the first task. Merlin, was I scared! Daphne had drilled the plan into my head, but I couldn't remember a thing. I was sitting in the Great Hall, eating what was probably my last meal, when Ron and Hermione walked in. I watched as they casually strolled past me, holding hands. They didn't even glance at me. Sighing, I couldn't help but feel sad. They used to be my best friends. Now, I just wanted to forget about them. I looked down at my plate. I'd hardly touched a thing. That was probably for the best; I didn't want to lose my lunch when facing a dragon.

Daphne caught my eye from her table and nodded slightly. I nodded back, confusing a few Slytherin students who were looking my way.

I made my way to the Champion's tent, and went inside. It wasn't long before Mr. Crouch showed up and had us remove a model of the dragon we'd face. Lucky me, I got the Horntail. It's almost like someone wants me to die. _Oh wait._

The other Champions went first, and I heard the cheers and groans of the crowds as each one attempted to retrieve their egg. Finally, it was my turn. I stepped outside, and promptly threw up. So much for not losing my lunch. Shivering, I marched forward into the arena, and found myself staring at the most hideous, evil looking dragon imaginable. I hardly noticed that, unlike the other Champions, the stadium was completely silent when I walked in. A few people started booing me.

The announcer shouted some stuff that I didn't hear. I was focused intently on the beast before me. I heard a gong sound, and I stood there, waiting for the dragon to move. It lashed out at me, trying to crush me with it's tail. I dove out of the way, and watched it try to find me. It spotted me and charged.

I ran. I ran like Morgana herself was chasing me down.

The crowd started laughing at me, but I didn't notice. I dove behind a rock, and tried desperately to remember the plan that Daphne had told me to use. My memory had chosen a very inconvenient time to betray me. I felt a rush of heat, and winced, praying the rock was made of tougher stuff than the fire.

For some reason, I couldn't help but think that the plan had something to do with it's eyes... It's eyes! I smiled to myself. Having an epiphany while hiding from a dragon intent on eradicating your existence is a very strange feeling. I waited until the heat stopped and ran out from my cover, trying to take aim at the dragon's eyes. “ _Reducto!_ ”

The spell missed and hit the dragon's chest. It roared and shot a huge blast of fire at me. I narrowly dodged out of the way and looked around for more cover. There weren't many options. The dragon seemed to notice my hesitation. I watched as another wall of fire came towards me. There was no way in hell I'd be able to avoid it. I raised my hands in front of me, and prepared for the worst.

* * *

Daphne watched as Harry stood against the dragon, looking slightly confused. She bit her lip, praying that he hadn't forgotten her plan.

Apparently he had. She watched as he ran around the arena, dodging the dragon's attacks, and making no attempt to summon his broom, nevermind to get the egg. He took aim at the dragon, and she nearly let out a sigh of relief, until he missed. Daphne forced herself to watch as he narrowly dodged more fire and looked around for cover. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming when he didn't notice the second blast of fire headed towards him. Harry raised his hands, dropping his wand, and turned his head away.

The fire engulfed him completely, swirling around him viciously.

* * *

I felt the heat from the fire surging through my body. My eyes cracked open, and my jaw dropped. I stood in the middle of a massive vortex of fire, completely unharmed. I lowered my hands, and the height of the flames decreased. Frowning, I raised my hands again, and the fires shot up. I dropped them lower, and the flames shrunk to half my height. The dragon watched me carefully before slowly moving away and laying down, eyes following my every move. I moved my arms out, and the fires in front of me parted, allowing me to walk through. As soon as I left the ring, the fire died out. I walked over to the egg, grabbed it, and walked out of the arena.

The arena sounded exactly the same as when I entered. That is to say, it didn't. Complete silence.

I didn't bother staying to see my score, as I could see Madam Pomfrey waiting impatiently by the tent. She hurried me in, and checked me over.

“Well, Mr. Potter, as surprised as I am to say it, you don't appear to be injured. You're free to go.”

I smiled. There was a first time for everything, right? On my way out, I tripped and sliced my arm open on a rock. Sheepishly, I walked back inside and got Pomfrey's attention. She looked at me, and noticed my arm.

“That wasn't there a moment ago. Honestly, Potter, how do you manage to do it?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. I'm just lucky, I guess.”

Madam Pomfrey snorted. “Lucky. Hardly.”

I smiled at her. “Well, just think of all the times I've been to see you! And I'm still not dead! I'd say that's pretty lucky.”

She just rolled her eyes and waved her wand over my arm. “Off you go. And be careful!"

Daphne was waiting for me outside of the tent. She grabbed my arm when I walked outside, and I winced. “Careful! Madam Pomfrey just healed that.”

She frowned. “I didn't see you get injured.”

“Errr, yeah, well... it sorta happened after I got the egg and left.”

Daphne started laughing. “Honestly, Potter, only you would be able to take on a dragon unscathed, and then injure yourself while _walking_.”

“It was an accident!”

She laughed for another moment, then stopped and glared at me. “Whatever. You forgot my plan.”

I looked away from her. “Yeah... I kinda forgot a lot when I saw that bloody thing.”

“I noticed. Why didn't you tell me that you're an elementalist?”

I stared blankly at her. “I'm a what?”

“An elementalist! You can control the elements!”

“I didn't know.”

Daphne shook her head and sighed. “Look, Potter, if you want my help, I need to know what you can do.”

“Well, I've told you all I know I can do. I can't tell you if I don't know I can do it.”

Daphne frowned at my response. “Potter, you got lucky again-”

I interrupted her before she could go on about my lack of intelligence. Again. “Yeah, I know. But why would the dragon just let me by like that?”

She stared at me again. “Really? You don't know?”

I smacked my forehead, berating myself for admitting something else I don't know in front of her.

“Dragons respect creatures of fire. They're highly docile around a Phoenix; they'll let a Phoenix do pretty much anything around them. You just stopped the fire like it was nothing. The dragon recognized you as a creature of fire.”

I smiled slightly. “Well, I always wanted to be treated with respect, but I didn't exactly have this in mind.”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “Come on, Potter. We'd better get started on that egg. Merlin knows you'll need the extra time.”

I sighed heavily and allowed myself to be led away into the depths of the castle, mentally preparing myself for a _very_ long year.


End file.
